1920: The Triangles were
one of the stronger regional powers in the NFL's early era, although an inability to beat
Canton or Akron doomed them to also-ran status the first two years of the league. The 1920
season had the Triangles well on their way to a title with 3 wins and two ties to start
off the season. Included was a 20-20 tie with the powerful Canton Bulldogs, which saw a
Triangle lead disappear late thanks to Jim Thorpe's late dropkicked field goal. In the
third quarter, he narrowed the score to 20-17 with a 45-yard dropkick. Then, in the final
minutes, he zeroed in on a 35-yard placekick that tied the score. In the early days, ties
weren't counted in the winning percentage. So a similar record today (3-0-2) would be an
.800 winning percentage. But, in those days, it was 1.000). But the Triangles dropped two
of their last three games by shutout to the Akron Pros, APFA champions for 1920. In spite
of the disappointing finish, a fourth-place tie in the new league was grounds for
optimism.

1921

Triangles

Opponents

Oct 2

42

COLUMBUS PANHANDLES

13

Oct 9

7

@ Detroit Panthers

10

Oct 16

14

CANTON BULLDOGS

14

Oct 23

0

@ Chicago Staleys

7

Oct 30

3

@ Cleveland Indians

2

Nov 6

0

@ Canton Bulldogs

14

Nov 13

27

DETROIT PANTHERS

0

Nov 20

3

AKRON PROS

0

Nov 27

0

@ Buffalo All-Americans

7

Totals

96

4-4-1 (t-6th of 18
APFA)

67

1921 saw the Triangles on a
hilly ride where they seemed to balance out the wins with the losses, resulting in a final
record of 4-4-1. They opened with a huge home victory over Columbus on Opening Day. After
suffering their first loss at Detroit, the Triangles once again tied Canton 14-14 at home.
A key game the following week was the Triangles' first meeting with the team later to gain
fame as the Monsters of the Midway, the Chicago Staleys, who were championship-bound this
season. The Triangles fought to a bitter 7-0 loss. Sadly, this was as close as
Dayton-Bears games would ever get. The following week, they won an interesting 3-2 game
against Cleveland, then dropped the rematch at Canton. Their shot at the championship long
gone, the Triangles won their last two home games against Detroit and Akron before
dropping the season finale at Buffalo. The Triangles finished in a 6th place tie, but
storm clouds were gathering about this franchise as their first NFL coach, Nelson
"Bud" Talbott, left at season's end.

1922

Triangles

Opponents

Oct 1

36

OORANG INDIANS

0

Oct 8

0

CANTON BULLDOGS

0

Oct 15

17

MINNEAPOLIS MARINES

0

Oct 22

0

HAMMOND PROS

0

Oct 29

0

BUFFALO ALL-AMERICANS

7

Nov 5

0

@ Chicago Bears

9

Nov 12

0

@ Rock Island Independents

43

Dec 3

7

@ Chicago Cardinals

3

Totals

80

4-3-1 (t-7th of 18
NFL)

62

1922: Under new coach
(and team owner) Carl Storck, 1922 saw the Triangles start 3-0-1 with the defense posting
shutouts in all four games. The caliber of the some of the opponents was questionable save
for Canton, who would win the NFL title this season. When Buffalo came to town and shut
out the Triangles 7-0, it seemed to be a shock to the team as the offense put up only 7
more points the rest of the season. The Triangles were also shut out their next two games
against the Chicago Bears (9-0) and Rock Island (43-0, the worst loss in the Triangles'
NFL history). The Triangles regrouped after the three game skid to win the season
finale against the Chicago Cardinals, to finish 4-3-1 for the season, tied for seventh. As
events played out, this was the Triangles' second winning season in three NFL years. It
was also to be their last.

1923

Triangles

Opponents

Sept 30

7

COLUMBUS TIGERS

6

Oct 7

0

@ Hammond Pros

7

Oct 14

0

@ Canton Bulldogs

30

Oct 21

3

@ Toledo Maroons

6

Oct 28

3

@ Chicago Cardinals

13

Nov 11

0

@ Cleveland Indians

0

Nov 18

0

@ Buffalo All-Americans

3

Dec 2

3

@ Columbus Tigers

30

Totals

16

1-6-1
(t-16th of 20 NFL)

95

M

1923: The bottom fell out of the team in 1923 It should be
interesting to note that the Triangles played only one NFL home game the entire 1923
season, the opener against Columbus, which they won before going on the road where
they dropped six of the seven road games that year with the non-loss being a 0-0 tie to
Cleveland. The 1-6-1 record was only good for a 16th place tie. Also of note, the
Triangles offense seemed to continue in its funk from the end of the 1922 season. They
went from one of the more prolific offenses to one of the worst. After scoring 80 points
in 1922, the Triangles scored 7 in their win over Columbus. They scored only 9 more points
the rest of the season.

M

1924

Triangles

Opponents

Oct
5

19

FRANKFORD
YELLOWJACKETS

7

Oct
12

7

@ Buffalo Bisons

0

Oct
19

0

@ Rock Island
Independents

20

Oct
26

6

COLUMBUS TIGERS

17

Nov
2

0

@ Cleveland
Bulldogs

35

Nov
9

0

@ Chicago
Cardinals

23

Nov
16

6

@ Buffalo Bisons

14

Nov
27

7

@ Frankford
Yellowjackets

32

Totals

45

2-6-0
(t-13th of 18 NFL)

148

M

In 1924, the Triangles stirred some hopes of a return to the top
half of the NFL after winning their fist two games, beating Frankford 19-7 and at Buffalo
7-0. The Frankford win was notable in that it would be the last time the Triangles would
score in double digits in one game. But the team was exposed in a 20-0 loss to Rock
Island, and the team never won again the rest of the year, yielding an average of 23.5
points allowed per game over their last six games, appalling numbers for the low-scoring
era of pro football.

M

1925

Triangles

Opponents

Sept
27

0

@ Rock Island
Independents

0

Oct
4

0

@ Canton
Bulldogs

14

Oct
18

0

@ Detroit
Panthers

6

Oct
24

0

@ Frankford
Yellowjackets

3

Nov
1

3

@ Akron Pros

17

Nov
15

0

@ Green Bay
Packers

7

Nov
22

0

@ Chicago
Cardinals

14

Nov
29

0

@ New York
Giants

23

Totals

3

0-7-1
(19th of 20 NFL)

84

M

1925: Attendance had been dropping at the few home games in
recent years in conjunction with the drop in the NFL standings, plus the team's inability
to schedule opponents the fans would come out to see. As a result, 1925 saw the Triangles
play an all-road schedule. This season was the worst in Dayton's NFL history so far, as
the Triangles could only manage a 0-0 tie in the season opener at Rock Island, and scored
only three points all season while dropping their last seven contests. Three losses were
commendably close (6-0 to Detroit, 3-0 to Frankford and 7-0 to Green Bay) but the other
games were double-digit deficits by the final gun. The 0-7-1 record was good for 19th
place in a 20-team league. In addition to the usual Ohio-Michigan-Illinois opponents were
two new opponents: Green Bay's Packers, and the New York Giants, who were playing their
inaugural season in the NFL and defeated Dayton in the season finale 23-0.

M

1926

Triangles

Opponents

Oct
3

3

@ Buffalo
Rangers

0

Oct
10

6

@ Pottsville
Maroons

24

Oct
17

6

BUFFALO RANGERS

7

Nov
14

0

@ Detroit
Panthers

0

Nov
20

0

@ Frankford
Yellowjackets

35

Nov
21

0

@ Hartford Blues

16

Totals

15

1-4-1
(t-16th of 22 NFL)

82

M

1926 had the Triangles playing a short schedule, totaling six games. Against
similarly weak teams like the Buffalo Rangers (the old All-Americans under a new name) the
Triangles could hold their own, splitting their two games (3-0 road victory and a 7-6 home
loss). They also tied Detroit 0-0. The other three games were essentially non-competitive
as the weaknesses of the home-grown Triangles against the other clubs' national talent
became all too apparent. Carl Storck would bring on a new head coach for the next season.

M

1927

Triangles

Opponents

Sept
18

0

@ Green Bay
Packers

14

Sept
24

6

FRANKFORD
YELLOWJACKETS

3

Oct
2

3

NY YANKEES

6

Oct
8

0

@ Frankford
Yellowjackets

0

Oct
9

0

@ Chicago
Cardinals

7

Oct
23

0

@ Providence
Steamroller

7

Oct
30

6

@ Chicago Bears

14

Nov
13

0

@ Green Bay
Packers

6

Totals

15

1-6-1
(10th of 12 NFL)

57

M

In 1927, with the end of Red Grange's AFL, and the NFL nearly drowning in
red ink as well, the league shrank from 22 to 12 teams in the hopes of shoring up the
talent pool of the remaining clubs. By now, Dayton was the last of the original Ohio
NFL teams still standing. A new head coach for the Triangles couldn't stop the
continued bleeding of losses as Lou Mahrt posted a 1-6-1 record. Dayton had two home
games this season, a change from recent years. Both were significant in Triangle
history, as the first game, a 6-3 victory over Frankford, was the Triangles' last NFL
victory. The other home game, Dayton's 6-3 loss to the New York Yankees in 1927 was
significant on two counts: First, it was the only NFL appearance of pro football's first
superstar, Red Grange, in Dayton. Second, as events turned out, it was the
Triangles' final NFL home game. The following week, the Triangles got their last tie
game, 0-0, against Frankford. In a change from the previous three seasons, while
Dayton lost the rest of their games, the scores were generally more respectable, as five
of the 6 losses were by a touchdown or less. Only two opponents could score as many
as 14 points and every other opponent was held to single digit scoring. The offense,
however, provided little punch, posting 15 points all year, and never coming close to
breaking into double digits.

M

1928

Triangles

Opponents

Sept
29

0

@ Frankford
Yellowjackets

6

Oct
7

0

@ Chicago
Cardinals

7

Oct
14

0

@ Providence
Steamroller

28

Oct
20

9

@ Frankford
Yellowjackets

13

Oct
28

0

@ Green Bay
Packers

17

Nov
11

0

@ Chicago Bears

27

Nov
29

0

@ Detroit
Wolverines

33

Totals

9

0-7-0
(10th of 10 NFL)

131

M

1928 brought on the last head coach in Triangle history as Fay
Abbott took the helm. Sadly, his two years brought more of the same as the Triangles,
reduced to a road team, reverted from their reasonable 1927 showing back to the disaster
of 1924-25. They simply could not stay in games long against the top teams. They would
score only 16 points over their last 13 NFL games and lose by horrific margins in most of
these contests. The Triangles played their last NFL game on November 24, 1929, a 19-0 loss
to the Cardinals in Chicago. After the season, the franchise was sold and moved from
Dayton to New York where it would become the Brooklyn Dodgers for the 1930 NFL season.
There, they would suffer from many of the same problems Dayton had (not enough talent, not
enough home-town fan support, etc) until the brief tenure of 'Jock' Southerland. World War
II drained the team of the coach and what few good players they had until the
Triangles/Dodgers returned to the murk of losing. This went on until the team merged with
the Boston Yanks in 1944. Dodger owner Dan Topping then took his club to the All-American
Conference after the war, as the New York Yankees, where they died with most of the AAFC
after the 1949 season.

M

1929

Triangles

Opponents

Sept
22

0

@ Green Bay
Packers

9

Sept
28

7

@ Frankford
Yellowjackets

14

Sept
29

0

@
Providence Steamroller

41

Oct
6

0

@ Staten Island
Stapletons

12

Oct
13

0

@ Boston
Bulldogs

41

Nov
24

0

@ Chicago
Cardinals

19

Totals

7

0-6-0
(12th of 12 NFL)

136

Some Triangle players hung
around the NFL for a short period after the team disbanded following the 1929 season.
While the franchise was shipped to Brooklyn to become the Dodgers, no Triangle player made
the trek to the borough. At least five Triangles continued as active NFL players on
different teams. Jim Tays landed on the 1930 Staten Island Stapletons. Ebby DeWeese, Red
Joseph, and Lee Fenner (the last of the 1920 APFA Triangles still active as an NFL player)
ended up on the 1930 Portsmouth Spartans (the forerunners to the Detroit Lions) for their
final NFL seasons as players. Also, according to Pro Football: The Early Years, Al (Pup)
Graham, a guard, was the last of the ex-Triangles still actively playing NFL ball when he
left the Chicago Cardinals after the 1933 season.

Coaching Records:
Nelson "Bud"Talbott (1920-21) 8-6-3
Carl Storck (1922-26) 8-26-4
Lou Mahrt (1927) 1-6-1
Fay Abbott (1928-29) 0-13-0NOTES: Abbott set the NFL record for the longest losing
streak for a coach starting his NFL career until his first NFL win (or getting
fired). The record is now held by John McKay, going 0-26 in 1976-77 before McKay
recorded his first NFL victory (a streak that will likely never be broken given the
current impatient breed of NFL ownership). Abbott did not get another chance to
record an NFL victory after the Triangles' last NFL game in 1929, as he was never again a
head coach in the pro ranks.

Even though the Triangles were gone, the NFL wasn't quite
done with Dayton. One more official NFL game was played in Dayton in 1934. The Cincinnati
Reds, a 1933 expansion team, were having difficulties and the NFL arranged a 'home' game
in Dayton against the Chicago Cardinals early in the season. This was the Reds' second
game and the Card's season opener. The Cardinals won the game 9-0 as the Reds dropped
their first 8 games before being merged with the St Louis Gunners, an independent team to
play out the remainder of the schedule.

Carl Storck, of course, continued to work in the NFL office
as Secretary-Treasurer and then NFL President until his retirement in 1941.

Source: Pro Football: The Early Years (An
Encylopedic History 1895-1959), by David S. Neft and
Richard M. Cohen, (C), 1978.